G'day everybody, I've got way too much on my plate at the moment... Is anyone interested in doing a cut out of an established hive on a tree branch in melbournes northern suburbs? It's a paid job...I've inspected it so can give you details but I just don't have the time...

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I've not done a cut out before, but if it is an easy one I could possibly do it Saturday or one morning the following week. How high up the tree is it? some more info or a picture would be helpful.

Paul

It's pretty straight forward - this one is between waist and shoulder height so access is not an issue. You'd need to trim some branches back first to allow easy access. It's under the canopy of a bush but there's plenty of room to set yourself up under there - and a bonus is it's nice and shady. If you wanted to take all of the wax then i'd suggest an 8 frame full depth - if you wanted to be selective with what you took then i'd say a 5 frame full depth nuc would be sufficient. I don't have a picture of it as it was a job i was going to do but i'm just not going to get a chance. It's of a decent size with between 5 - 7 sheets of wax - the longest is probably 40cms or so in length. If you're interested it's not too far from you - under 10kms from preston

Sounds like something I could reasonably have a go at. Do you want to pm me the details and how much you were going to charge etc. the earliest I would be able to do it is Saturday, but if you like I could give the people a call this evening to work out a time.Paul.

Job's done, bees are in the box.Made a bit of a mess of it, there were sticks and branches all through the nest making it hard to get clean cuts through the comb. In the end, I cut the whole nest out of the tree and shook all the bees in to the box. Got 8 frames of brood and a 20l bucket full of offcuts. any hints on what to do with it all? I'll separate out all the honey comb to give back to the bees on top of the hive mat but what do most people do with the brood comb offcuts if they still have brood in them? is there a way to reclaim the wax or should I bin it all?Photos to come in the next few days.Paul.

Awesome work mate - got a call from the owner saying you'd done a great job and they were very happy. With the offcuts I normally set aside a few pieces of comb to enjoy - the rest I melt down and filter through stainless steel mesh, fly wire and then a pair of tights to get some nice wax... I'm looking forward to the pics. Did you find the queen? Thanks again mate!

Into the void, what you can't see in the photo is how steep the garden is! we were set up on a terrace and the garden bed drops away from there towards the house.

A better look after some smoke and some trimming. Note the sticks coming out at all angles, something I wasn't expecting

Part way through the job, having a breather. Mental note: take water next time :-D

Most of the brood comb went in to the box and the bees seemed inclined to follow it which I take is a good sign. Never did see the queen though :'(

Veiw from the front, the stick is to prop the lid open to allow better access

Packed in the car ready for the trip home. There is a piece of wood behind the duct tape, but I lost one of the nails. Duct tape to the rescue :-D

All in all it was an interesting experience.

Copped a few stings to my right wrist when one of the nitrile gloves i was wearing came un-tucked from my sleeve, currently typing this with sausage fingers and a big fat hand :-D I was supposed to work today but only did half a day, as the more I use my hand the more it swells. Needless to say, the gauntlets went on after that.We went back at about 8:45 that evening to pick up the hive and there were still bees all over the outside and a grapefruit sized cluster in the tree where the foragers had landed. I cut the cluster out of the tree and shook it in front of the hive. A bit of smoke, some gentle scraping off the sides of the hive and a mist of water from a squirt bottle and the majority marched inside. Probably left about 100 behind.Honestly don't know if I got the queen, but I took the way they marched in to the hive to be a good sign. here's hoping. I don't know how good she was anyway, there was as much drone brood as anything else. I'll give them a frame of eggs from one of my better hives when I get them out to the farm just to be safe.Oh, and I am so building a bee vac after this. I think it would have made the job so much easier.And a great big thanks to my wife Christine. I honestly couldn't have done the job without her help :-*Paul.

Good job Paul and thanks for the photos. I've done a small recovery from a tree and you're right, the twigs going through the hive are a pain. Thanks also to Christine, I guess she was the photographer as well.

Finally got a second super with frames of foundation on today to replace the dodgy box. The bees had been busy repairing the damaged combs and filling in the empty spaces. Lots of rubber bands out the front of the hive so they are putting things to rights much quicker than I thought they would. Didn't check for brood as I don't want to start pulling frames out for another couple of weeks. All in all it seems to be a nice strong hive which I think will do well once the next flow starts.Paul.

I had a bit of a look yesterday and everything is going well. Plenty of freshly capped brood and larvae so there is definately a queen . I am amazed at how well they have repaired all the damaged comb, I would say the frames are about 95% full now. They do seem to be a bit hot though, which is understandable I guess, but if they don't calm down in another couple of months they will be getting a new queen :'(Paul.